![It allows you to connect with a different type of resident – who perhaps can’t give up time to come to council meetings or surgeries “ [My] website had 1000 visits in first 9 weeks [after it was re-launched]. I know that residents are being informed.” Ken Hawkins, Conservative, Solihull](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/dcc-socialmediaforcouncillors-110603054442-phpapp01/75/Devon-County-Council-Social-Media-for-Councillors-11-2048.jpg)
![With Twitter you can follow or create conversations on many different interest levels , so you might follow some people because they tweet about your party and others because they are involved in local issues. Depending on who you follow Twitter can become a one-stop-shop for the news and views you are interested in. “ It’s the widening of the local government network. Councillors tend to be isolated into small groups, [but] social media can create larger groups.” Tim Cheetham, Labour, Barnsley](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/dcc-socialmediaforcouncillors-110603054442-phpapp01/75/Devon-County-Council-Social-Media-for-Councillors-12-2048.jpg)
![How to contact me Carl Haggerty Email: [email_address] Tel: 01392 382883 Twitter: @carlhaggerty](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/dcc-socialmediaforcouncillors-110603054442-phpapp01/75/Devon-County-Council-Social-Media-for-Councillors-27-2048.jpg)
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Devon County Council - Social Media for Councillors
This document provides an introduction to social media for members of a council (DCC). It defines social media and outlines opportunities for its use, such as reaching more people, two-way communication, connecting with different groups, and engaging youth. Potential pitfalls like legal issues and code of conduct violations are also discussed. The document recommends councillors try social media cautiously and get support from officers on tools and good practices.
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Devon County Council - Social Media for Councillors
- 1. Members Briefing SocialMedia An Introduction…
- 2. Outcomes Awareness ofsocial media and how to access it To understand in what instances to use it To understand how to use it wisely and with out fear of repercussions To be clear about DCC’s views on social media
- 3. What is SocialMedia Social media is people having conversations and sharing a variety of ‘stuff’
- 4. It’s about howpeople engage, communicate, participate and share online…
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- 8. Opportunities Here are10 ideas / opportunities to start…
- 9. It boosts thenumber of people you can reach when talking about the good work you have done for your area. This includes the local press who can pick up on your stories without you having to press release them. “ Social media is a good way to tell people what you actually do as a councillor.” Nick Bason, Liberal Democrat, Waltham Forrest
- 10. Unlike traditional media/leafletdropping, it allows for two-way communication so you get immediate feedback on your plans or manifesto and can react accoringly. “ (Social media is) an immediate, unmediated and two-way channel of communication with people we represent and need to engage with.” Steven Adams, Conservative, Buckinghamshire
- 11. It allows youto connect with a different type of resident – who perhaps can’t give up time to come to council meetings or surgeries “ [My] website had 1000 visits in first 9 weeks [after it was re-launched]. I know that residents are being informed.” Ken Hawkins, Conservative, Solihull
- 12. With Twitter youcan follow or create conversations on many different interest levels , so you might follow some people because they tweet about your party and others because they are involved in local issues. Depending on who you follow Twitter can become a one-stop-shop for the news and views you are interested in. “ It’s the widening of the local government network. Councillors tend to be isolated into small groups, [but] social media can create larger groups.” Tim Cheetham, Labour, Barnsley
- 13. Campaigns can ‘goviral’ with social media. If you are trying to save a local amenity from closure or hoping to prevent an unpopular planning application from being approved. A blog can help explain the cause and Twitter and facebook will help you spread the word. “ Twitter helps me keep in touch with what others locally are thinking and seeing. Broadcasting is one thing, but listening is more useful!” Councillor Tim Prater, Folkestone Town Council
- 14. Help bring yourcommunity together and combat extremism. It is important that respectable politicians stand up against extremism in all areas of public debate including the social web. “ Communication isn’t just about broadcasting information, it’s an exchange of information. Our new website is a vital tool for us to better engage with all sections of the community.” Councillor Antony Bull, Chairman, Southwater Parish Council
- 15. The conversations arealready happening without you . Many citizens are already using social media to talk about local issues – this is an opportunity to become involved. Even if you can’t solve the problem straight away, you can acknowledge it and offer to look into it. “ In such a fast moving world, councils need to keep up or get left behind. Smart councils and councillors are now taking advantage of technology and social media to drive communications, innovation and improvement.” Councillor Michael Chater, Chairman, National Association of Local Councils
- 16. It’s simple andcheap to do . Using social media costs nothing more than time, there are no printing costs and you can do it from the comfort of your home or office, rather than out in the elements. “ I’d possibly suggest twitter as being a good place to start, as essentially it’s asking you what you are doing – which is a question most people should be able to answer.” Councillor Anthony Mckeown, Labour, High Peak Borough Council
- 17. It’s one ofthe best ways to engage with young people. Young people are increasingly using social media as a means of communication and entertainment and if we hope to get them involved in local democracy it is important to use the tools they use to speak to them. “ By using the modes of communication young people are using then hopefully we can get them involved in campaigning and even becoming councillors themselves.” Andrew Palfreeman, Conservative, Kirklees Council
- 18. People will connectwith you on a personal level. When handled properly, social media accounts are great at letting people get to know you a little better, allowing them to warm to you rather than just seeing you as an extension of the council. “ When I started with my blog it was a little like firing an arrow into the sky. I was never sure whether anyone would actually notice. Then the local newspaper started to follow up some of my blog entries. Stories both personal and in my capacity as a councillor started to appear in print. All in all, in my view, social media in local government have a clear future ahead. My advice is ‘pick up your bow and start firing the odd arrow or two!’.” Sean Brady, Independent Parish Councillor, Formby Parish Council
- 19. It can gowrong sometimes BUT…. It can go VERY wrong
- 20. Be careful whatyou say – Once you publish, the “world” can see it…
- 21. Understand and staywithin your code of conduct regardless of the platform (offline and online)
- 22. “ think first”would you say it in a public meeting?
- 23. Don’t forget… Members’Code of Conduct A great starting point Legal Considerations Data protection, libel, copyright etc Common sense approach Be human, don’t try and hide mistakes…(you can’t hide mistakes on the internet)
- 24. DCC Policy andGuidance Approved January 2010 Primarily aimed at Staff Guidance for Personal use Professional use Different scenarios Key things to consider Key contacts for support
- 25. Taking the firststep Give it a go and contribute Listen, before you speak Ask around Find a friendly officer Look to your party Set up a blog
- 26. Next Steps Additionaland more practical awareness about particular tools (twitter, facebook, blogs etc) “ Drop in Social Media Surgery” Share learning between each other Develop and share DCC good practice for councillors to inform guidance and policy
- 27. How to contactme Carl Haggerty Email: [email_address] Tel: 01392 382883 Twitter: @carlhaggerty
- 28. Credits / AcknowledgementsMachine us using us video – Dr Michael Wesch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g 10 reasons from 21 st CC (including images) http://socialmedia.21st.cc/2010/03/top-ten-reasons-to-use-social-media/ Bad Examples : recommendations via twitter colleagues
Editor's Notes
- #9 Blogs Blogs are easily updated web journals, usually published by an individual or a small group. They are almost always commentable, meaning readers can share their opinions about what the author has written. Blogs have been used by councillors to share their views on public policy, share information about council services or issues of local interest, and canvas opinion. Even very ‘business-oriented’ local government blogs have a personal feel with bloggers sharing some detail of their daily lives, for example sharing how changes in local services have affected them, how much they enjoyed taking their kids to the village fete, or sharing pictures of tasty local produce. There are many free blogging tools such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com which make it easy to set up a blog in a few minutes. However, gaining readership can take longer. Some examples of councillors who blog: • Sean Brady, Independent, Formby Parish Council www.formbyfirst.typepad.com • Daisy Benson, Liberal Democrat, Reading contributes to a group blog with other councillors who represent her ward www.redlandslibdems.org.uk • Peter Black, Liberal Democrat, Swansea and Welsh Assembly Member www.peterblack.blogspot.com • Mike Causey, Conservative, Waverley Borough Council www.mikecausey.wordpress.com • James Cousins, Conservative London Borough of Wandsworth www.jamescousins.com • Anthony Mckeown, Labour, High Peak Borough Council www.anthonymckeown.info • Bob Piper, Labour, Sandwell www.bobpiper.co.uk Blogging has been around longer than most of the tools described here, but it is still one of the most powerful. Many councillors use a blog as the bedrock of their social media strategy. Twitter Twitter was the social media phenomenon of 2009 and is still growing. It’s a way of sharing short snippets of information, links to interesting resources, telling people what you are doing or asking for help. Users are limited to 140 characters (letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation), so it’s ideal for sending and receiving text information on the go. It can be used as a one-way publishing tool, pushing out short bursts of information, and many councils use it this way through corporate accounts. However, it’s more powerful as a conversational tool, with councillors and local people sharing information and getting feedback. "Twitter helps me keep in touch with what others locally are thinking and seeing. Broadcasting is one thing, but listening is more useful!" Councillor Tim Prater, Folkestone Town Council
- #24 In the main, councillors have the same legal duties online as anyone else, but failures to comply with the law may have more serious consequences. There are some additional duties around using their websites for electoral campaigning and extra care needs to be taken when writing on planning matters. Libel If you publish an untrue statement about a person which is damaging to their reputation they may take a libel action against you. This will also apply if you allow someone else to publish something libellous on your website if you know about it and don’t take prompt action to remove it. A successful libel claim against you will result in an award of damages against you. Copyright Placing images or text on your site from a copyrighted source (for example extracts from publications or photos) without permission is likely to breach copyright. Avoid publishing anything you are unsure about, or seek permission in advance. Breach of copyright may result in an award of damages against you. Data Protection Avoid publishing the personal data of individuals unless you have their express written permission Obscene material Avoid publishing the personal data of individuals unless you have their express written permission Code of Conduct It’s worth pointing out that councillors can have ‘blurred identities’. This means you have a social media account where you comment both as a councillor and as an individual. For example a Facebook account where you’ve posted about a great night out (personal) and another time explained the council position on pothole repair (councillor). It may be clear in your mind when you are posting in a private capacity or as a councillor, but it could be less clear to others. There is a difference between communicating on behalf of the council, for example blogging as an un-elected Mayor, or as a councillor or as a private citizen, and the former will be held to a higher standard than the latter. The key to whether your online activity is subject to the Code of Conduct is whether you are giving the impression that you are acting as a councilor. And that stands whether you are in fact acting in an official capacity or simply giving the impression that you are doing so. Since the judgment of whether you are perceived to be acting as a councillor will be taken by someone else, it’s safest to assume that any online activity can be linked to your official role. You will need to be particularly aware of the following sections of the Code: Treat others with respect. Avoid personal attacks and disrespectful, rude or offensive comments. Comply with equality laws. Take care in publishing anything that might be considered sexist, racist, ageist, homophobic or anti-faith. Refrain from publishing anything you have received in confidence. Ensure you don’t bring the council, or your councillor role, into disrepute. Common Sense - Avoiding gaffes and maintaining good ‘netiquette’ Make your commenting policy clear : you will need to take note of the comments that other people make on your site. It may be a fine line to tread, but if you allow offensive or disrespectful comments to stand on your site then it can put off other members of your community and you may even be called to account under the Code of Conduct. For blogs, the easiest way to handle this is to moderate comments and to state clearly on your site that you’re doing so and reasons why comments may be rejected. For Facebook or other social networks, including multi-media sites like YouTube and Flickr where people can post public or semi-public messages to your profile, you will need to regularly check on messages (you can be notified by email) or, far less preferably, disable message posting. Allow disagreement : some comments may be out of line, but on the other hand deleting the comments of people who disagree with you will backfire. You can’t stop them from posting the same comment elsewhere, then linking back to your site and saying you are gagging those who disagree with you. Think before you publish : you can’t un-ring that bell. Words can’t be unspoken and even if you delete a hastily fired off blog post or tweet it will probably have already been read and will be indexed or duplicated in places on the web beyond your reach. Beware the irony : few writers are able to communicate sarcasm or irony through short online messages. It’s probably best to assume that you’re one of those that can’t. Don’t be creepy : some of the terminology in social media, like ‘following’ or ‘friending’ can imply an intimacy that’s not really there. Both terms just mean you have linked your account to someone else so you can share information. Savvy internet users are used to this, but some people can feel a frisson of unease when their council, local police service or councillor begins following them on Twitter before establishing some sort of online relationship. Some councillors wait to be followed themselves first. Do make use of other communication functions that social media allows you. Twitter’s ‘list’ function, for example, can help you to follow local people in a less direct way. And bloggers are almost invariably happy for you to link to them, so you don’t need to ask first in this instance. Own up : social media is transparent. The best bloggers admit mistakes rather than try to cover them up (which isn’t possible online). Amending your text and acknowledging your mistake – perhaps by putting a line through the offending words and inserting a correction or providing an update section at the bottom of a blog post – shows you are not pretending it never happened, and is much better than just deleting it when dealing with online misfires. Avoid the trolls : you know that person who always shows up to area forums and asks the tricky but entirely irrelevant questions? That person has an equally difficult cousin who likes to go online. As you begin to use social media, you’ll find some argumentative characters out there. Don’t get bogged down. You don’t have to respond to everything. Ignore if necessary.
- #25 Checklist of key things to consider: Do you understand and have the resources available to undertake your activity and to maintain an effective presence in your chosen social media site? Can you demonstrate a real business need to undertake this activity? Which business objectives are you contributing to? What are you hoping to achieve? How are you going to evaluate / assess this activity and its success? Do you have buy-in / agreement? Have you undertaken a risk assessment for this activity? Have you taken into account equality and accessibility issues when undertaking this activity?
- #26 Give it a go and contribute : it can feel quite unnerving putting forward your ideas and contributions online at first, especially if you’re not used to working in such ways. But having a go can get you used to the technology, and build your confidence. Just signing up to Facebook or Twitter is a good start. You probably already know quite a few people online, and both these tools will immediately show you how to find out which of your friends and colleagues are already signed up. Watch what others are doing. Make some small tester contributions. Listen, before you speak : set aside half an hour to do a few internet searches on local issues or just type the name of your area into Google. Look for discussion forums or social networks. If you’re a member of Facebook, search on the name of your area. Google has a specific blog search that can help you identify local bloggers. Ask around : other councillors or local party activists may already be using social media. Find out what they’re doing and how they got started. Find a friendly officer : you may find that that there’s an officer in the policy, communications or IT department, or perhaps in your group’s political office, who’s passionate about social media. Look to your party : the Liberal Democrats, for example, have a specific blogging platform for councillors and offer help to get you started through the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors. You can also make connections through dedicated political networks such as the Conservative Party’s MyConservatives , the LabourList or the Liberal Democrat Act network . These will put you in touch with other people in your party who are active online and often provide useful resources and links to local web activity. Set up a blog : it only takes a few minutes with free services like Blogger or Wordpress, and both have privacy settings which mean that you can show your blog to only a few people until you’re ready to go public.